By Amos Aar
THE GENERAL Manager of the Benue State Environmental Sanitation Agency (BENSESSA), Jennifer Daniels, has directed that landlords who fail to comply with sanitation laws by providing proper toilet facilities will be arrested.
Speaking during a sanitation monitoring exercise last Saturday, Daniels urged tenants to report environmental and sanitation issues to the agency for prompt action.
“If you face structural problems and your landlord fails to act, report it to us or escalate it to the Urban Development Board. Your health and life are at risk in such an environment.
“If the landlord remains unresponsive after your efforts, bring the case to us or file it with the Housing Tribunal. Do not suffer in silence. Help us to help you,” Daniels said.
Her comments followed growing complaints from residents of Makurdi, the Benue State capital, about the lack of proper toilet facilities in residential areas, which has led to open defecation.
National Record observed that many houses in high-density areas such as Konshisha, and Badagry Streets both in High-level, Makurdi, lack essential toilet facilities.
These areas, located in the heart of Makurdi, are grappling with poor sanitation conditions. It is common to find faeces in gutters or disposed off in plastic bags in these neighbourhoods due to the absence of functional toilets.
In Badagry Street, a tenant, Gloria Faga, shared her ordeal about a broken sewage pipe in her rented apartment.
According to her, the offensive odour from the pipe caused three tenants to fall ill. Despite repeated appeals to the landlord to fix the pipe, nothing has been done, she said. “We even contributed money to buy sand to temporarily manage the problem. Without it, entering this house would be unbearable. Now, we’re spending our own money to treat ourselves,” Faga said on Brothers FM, Makurdi.
Similarly, another tenant in High-Level, Aladi Ajeibi, alleged that neighbours frequently litter her street with faeces wrapped in plastic bags at night.
She also claimed that a nearby house with over 15 tenants lacks a functional toilet. Ajeibi called on BENSESSA to send sanitary officers to inspect residential houses and penalise landlords who fail to meet the required standards.
Cecilia Obasi, a resident of Badagry Street, expressed frustration over the unsanitary practices of tenants in a neighbouring compound.
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She reported that these tenants often defecate into plastic bags and throw them over the fence into her premises. “I’ve pleaded with them several times, but nothing has changed. You can see the evidence of their actions,” Obasi lamented.
A landlord, Ralph Magidi, attributed the negligence of some landlords to their absence from the properties they own.
“Landlords who don’t live with their tenants often neglect their responsibilities. Facilities like toilets are crucial for tenants’ health.
“For example, in this compound, the septic tank is leaking – it’s unhygienic for anyone to prepare food in such an environment,” Magidi said.
Magidi called on BENSESSA and the Urban Development Board to intensify efforts to address this growing sanitation crisis and ensure landlords comply with the law.
